FlickerScope – are your LEDs giving you a headache? stop guessing

FlickerScope is a new open-source hardware tool that measures LED flicker — the rapid, often invisible pulsing of light that can cause eye strain, headaches, and even seizures. Many modern LEDs, especially cheap ones, flicker at frequencies humans can't consciously see but that our nervous system still detects. This matters because most people don't know their lights are flickering, and consumer-grade light meters can't measure it properly. The tool's creator, Snoka Media (a small indie maker), designed it as an affordable alternative to professional flicker meters that cost hundreds of dollars. It's essentially a tiny sensor board that plugs into a computer and shows real-time flicker percentage and frequency. The project taps into growing awareness around "flicker-free" lighting, which was historically tied to fluorescent lights but is now resurging with the proliferation of cheap PWM-dimmable (pulse-width modulation) LEDs in homes and offices.